The 4.5 Songs You Need to Hear This Week

Somehow, we're only three days out from this year's Grammy Awards, but 2019 is coming in hot with contenders for next year's ceremony, including some really standout tracks from hitmakers like Kim Petras, icons like Pet Shop Boys, and weird-as-hell Lego Movie 2 soundtrack cuts from Beck (sure), Robyn (yes), and the Lonely Island (uh huh). Here are the 4.5 Songs You Need to Hear This Week.

Kim Petras feat. SOPHIE, "1,2,3 dayz up"

I have been playing a low-quality, live version of "1,2,3 dayz up" on a pretty constant loop ever since pop's most exciting young star, Kim Petras, performed it with pop's most thrilling producer, SOPHIE, last summer. That snippet has been the breadcrumbs on which I've subsisted for eight months; now, the full, glorious HQ version is out, and it's cause for celebration. It is weird and fizzy and neck-twisting; it's bubblegum pop, but the kind of bubblegum you chew when you're trying not to swallow your tongue when you're tripping. —Brennan Carley, associate editor

Pet Shop Boys, "Give stupidity a chance"

Believe it or not, this is not another appearance by The Lonely Island in this roundup, but it is a Monty Python-esque delight, with sweeping, "We Are the World"-inspired melodies and absurdist lyrics. Put your lighters up!—B.C.

Laura Stevenson, "Living Room, NY"

Laura Stevenson's music kind of creeps up on you. At its best, it's charming and unassuming before stopping you dead in your tracks with a quiet turn that shows this pleasant-seeming singer-songwriter you were listening to was actually setting you up for a plot twist. "Living Room, NY" is a gentler Laura Stevenson, a quiet love song with a layered sound that nonetheless aims to do the same thing her full-throated rock numbers do: wrench big emotions from mundane moments, like the pleasure of loving someone far away and falling asleep in a room meant for being awake. While it lacks the emotional plot twist of her best songs, there's just enough clarity there to cut a song mostly dedicated to yearning with a moment of hesitation before getting swept away. And that's more than fine, because it's a lovely song to get swept up in.—Joshua Rivera, GQ contributor

Aja feat. Cupcakke, "Safari Zone"

Aja had two star turns on RuPaul's Drag Race and All Stars last year, and she's turned her moment in the spotlight into a thriving rap career. It's been a joy to watch her hone her craft. "Safari Zone" is one among many standouts on the new BOX Office, but it's the crisp production, Aja's fiery delivery, and an always-welcome vulgar guest turn from Cupcakke that makes it a winner. —B.C.